There were faster ways of travel, true, but expenses had to be cut somewhere. Besides, riding in a cargo airship really wasn’t all too unpleasant. If nothing else, it was fairly roomy, and they’d be at Rilna in about an hour’s time. There’s got to be sacrifices somewhere in this mission, Neil thought. “But not with the mercs,” he commented to himself, chuckling slightly.

 From the looks of things, this was nothing more than your standard cargo airship, doing a standard delivery to Rilna. In actuality, it was indeed a cargo airship, but one being flown by a few friends that owed Neil a favor. And while they were heading in the direction of Rilna, their actual destination was a bit west of the city, to the outskirts of Darg Kai. Rilna was in the agenda, true, but not just yet.

 Seated in a makeshift office was Neil, mulling over a few notes, odds and ends. There were several boxes about the room, his chair squeaked, the lighting wasn’t all that good, and the table looked like it had been stabbed to prove a point on a number of occasions- it wasn’t very high class, which was why he liked it. After conversing with his friends flying the airship, Neil had turned attention back to the details of the mission; he hadn’t been going over his notes for five minutes when there was a knock at the door.

 “Enter at your own risk,” he answered, peaking over his notes. A smile found its way to his face as he saw the petite frame of Misfara slide inside the room. She shut the door behind her, and Neil noticed that she had small brown sack with her. Without a word she reached inside, producing a very familiar looking green-glassed bottle, filled with deep red liquor.

 “I didn’t think you remembered,” he remarked, watching as Misfara placed the bottle on the table.

 The lithe redhead smiled. “From my family’s estate, as promised.” She took a seat on the corner of the table, which creaked slightly under her weight. “Care for a glass?” she offered.

 Neil pondered the request for a moment as he leaned back in his chair. “Your family’s wine has a reputation for being quite potent, dear,” he said, smiling. “It wouldn’t do any of us an ounce of good if I were a bit, shall I say, inebriated…”

 Misfara chuckled slightly. “Fair enough, Neil.” She stood to her feet and smiled. “I’ll just leave that with you for later.”

 “Misfara?”

 She paused for a moment, casting a glance over her shoulder. “Yes, Neil?”

 Neil sat up some in his seat. “I’ll make you a deal,” he offered, extending his hand.

 “I’m listening.”

 “Once we’re done with this mission… how about me and you celebrate with a glass or two?”

 There was a moment of pause before a smile found its way to Misfara’s face. “I’d like that very much.” She turned and headed towards the door, but before she stepped out, she turned over her shoulder one more time. “It’s good to see you again, Neil.”

 Neil nodded. “It’s good to see you too, Misfara.”

 *~*~*~*~*~*

 Within the cargo hold of the ship sat the rest of those hired, each doing their own thing in order to pass the time. Narek found himself in a corner stretching, listening to the young mage Ryugo’s playing of the mandolin. Seated atop of several crates was Drake, his notebook in hand. He stared intensely at the notebook, as if trying to discern some sort of archaic detail or two. After a moment’s pause, he waved over to Ryugo, beckoning the young man to come closer. The young mage stood to his feet and shuffled over to his friend, mandolin still at his side. Without a word, Drake turned the notebook to the young man, who took a look at the drawing on the page.

 “Nice, but a little too big. Definitely too big.”

 Drake glanced back at the pad. “You think so?”

 Ryugo nodded as he waved Narek over. “I mean, it looks just like her, but they’re still too big.” By that time Narek had made his way over to the duo and was looking at the notebook as well.

 “Not bad, Drake,” he observed. “The girl from the inn, right?” Drake nodded, as the Islander Narek looked the picture up and down. “The face looks just like her, and the rest… well, it’s pretty good, considering that… well, all of THAT…” He pointed to the girl’s body. “…was more or less sight-unseen…”

 The three young men’s attentions suddenly turned to the cargo hold’s doorway as Misfara stepped inside. “Drake?” she wondered. “You’re not drawing naked women again, are you?” She smirked, placing a hand on her hip.

 “Of course not,” the young man responded, quickly closing the notebook. “You’re back sooner than I expected, Misfara,” he observed.

 The young lady smiled as she took a seat on a nearby crate. “When I said that I needed to talk to Neil, I literally meant that I needed to talk to Neil. No innuendo, just a regular conversation.”

 “Right.” Drake snickered. “After the mission, right?”

 Misfara shook her head slowly, a grin crossing her face. “I’m not dignifying that with an answer, Drake.”

 *~*~*~*~*~*

 Strange creatures were said to wander about the area of Darg Kai as darkness descended on the land; it was still late in the afternoon when the group were dropped off in the area, so it would not have been a threat. All five members of the group had been deposited on the outskirts of the dense forest that surrounded the area; their only belongings and equipment being what they themselves carried, and a wooden crate that Neil was currently seated upon. He had encouraged the group to sit tight for a moment, because it would not be long before the ones they were meeting were to arrive.

 The sounds of nature abounded from the depths of the forest before them, broken only by the group’s conversations. Neil casually wondered if Father Sardax was currently at the monastery within the depths of the forest, joking that he needed to pay the old one a visit sometime. While Drake had heard tales of Father Sardax, and had in fact been in contact with several monks from the brotherhood in the past, he had yet to meet the Chameleon himself. Ryugo, on the other hand, was more than happy to recall tales of having met the influential Kutossi while passing through Cape Xavier in the past. Drake could not help but crack a slight smile every time he heard the young mage tell his story, always with the same vigor and enthusiasm as the first time. It wasn’t exactly an everyday occurrence to meet a living legend.

 The conversation suddenly trailed off as Neil pointed towards the forest’s edge. Everyone turned, seeing three figures making their way over to where they were sitting. As they came closer, Drake could gradually make out more and more details. At the front was what appeared to be a young man dressed in all black, the sleeves of his shirt removed and showing off slender, yet muscled arms. A pair of short blades hung at his sides, and a massive straw hat typically favored by Nixen peasants back in Tiamati shielded his face from the sun. Slightly behind him was another young man; this one wearing the light tan robes of a mage and carrying a long, thin staff. His dark brown hair was cut closely and very neatly, and even at that distance, Drake could plainly see a smile on his face. The third member of the trio was a female Islander; judging by her slight stature, Drake assumed her to be Kutossi. She wore sparse, yet tasteful clothing, no boots, and sported short, red hair that made her complexion appear that much greener. She carried no weapons, but kept a simple bag slung over her shoulder. Before any introductions were made, both Misfara and Narek were shouting greetings to the young Kutossi female as the group made their way over.

 “Punctual as always,” Neil greeted, shaking hands with the young man with the straw hat, who swept it back with his free hand. His dark hair was cut closely to his head, and a grin was present on his face.

 “You know that I couldn’t let you down, old friend.”

 Neil turned his attention back to the company of assembling mercenaries before him. “I guess a few introductions are in order,” he began, holding out his arms. “A couple of you already know her, but this is Dietra…” He made a motion over to the reptilian girl, who nodded her head in acknowledgement. “Good to see you again,” Neil added.

 Dietra nodded and smiled, unintentionally brandishing a layer of teeth. “Good to see Neil too,” came her accented reply.

 He stretched out his hand towards the young man in the robe. “Another friend that I haven’t seen in a while… this is Bryan, who’ll be giving us a bit more magical firepower.”

 The young man smiled, waving to the group. “Hey guys.”

 Neil smirked and pointed over his shoulder to the young man in the straw hat, clad in black. “And this louse back here is Mani.”

 “At your service,” he greeted with a bow. “Hey Neil, who’d you bring along?”

 Neil nodded, pointing over to the group that accompanied him to Darg Kai. “Ah yes… guys, this is our mage Ryugo, our heavy muscle Narek and Drake, along with the lovely Misfara…”

 Dietra snicked as she delivered a gentle elbow to Misfara. “Neil not change,” she observed.

 There was a moment’s pause as Neil seated himself upon the wooden crate that had accompanied them when they exited the airship previously. “Well,” he began. “I know a few of you still don’t know the full extent of what we’re doing here, so now’s as good a time as any to give you all the full briefing on the situation that has come about. You are all familiar with the seer Xantathus, correct?”

 “The self-proclaimed seer, Xantathus,” Drake added dryly. There was a chuckle and a nod from Neil.

 “Regardless of his official standing, he’s been accurate enough to gain the ear of Lord Omar Hasiv of Hamir Tobei, and pretty much serves as his main advisor now. The king seems immensely troubled these days, and consequently relies heavily on Xantathus to handle royal business.”

 There was a groan from Narek, the Islander seated cross-legged on the ground. “I hate politics,” he made known. “Too complex.”

 “Thankfully our goals here aren’t too political, and are much more straight forward,” Neil offered. “No doubt you are all familiar with what has come to be known as Xantathus’s cult.”

 “Right,” Misfara interjected at this point, raising her hand slightly. “This Xantathus character has gained quite a following, especially amongst criminals, and those disheartened by the way this Wargod situation is being dealt with.”

 Neil nodded. “His ranks have only grown since he’s made claims of being capable of realmwalking to the new Haven colony, without the help of Malstron, no less. Refugees pile into Destratos on a daily basis, and have set up a massive camp within the palace walls. These people are fiercely loyal to him; some have even gone as far as to calling him some sort of savior.”

 Bryan smirked. “But of course we’re a bit skeptical of all of this.”

 “The name Xantathus came up in some of my dealings a while back,” Neil began, nodding in response. “In fact, if you check the proper sources and talk to the proper people, you’d be shocked to learn that the name Xantathus has come up in several dealings over the course of the last, oh say, couple hundred years, starting right about the end of the Age of Darkness.”

 Ryugo noticeably paled. “A Demonlord?”

 There was a bout of silence from the group as Neil slowly nodded. “Offhand, I’d say yes. Maybe not quite as powerful as Lord Paradox, but he’s definitely someone not to be taken lightly. He’s amassing quite a bit of power out there, which, if we’re correct in our assumption, is a bad thing.” At that point, Neil hopped off of the crate. “Our job is two-fold. First, we have a rescue…” There were some looks of confusion from the group, to which Neil smiled. “A lot of our information comes from a young lady that we have on the inside. Things are getting a bit hairy in there, so we’re to make contact and get her out of there as soon as possible. Our second priority is to fully assess the situation with Xantathus; if he is as dangerous as we think he may be, we alert the powers-that-be, and have him stopped.”

 “But what if the powers-that-be don’t listen to us?” Misfara wondered, crossing her arms.

 Neil smirked. “Then we’ll have to do things the hard way.” At that point he suddenly kicked behind him, planting a solid blow to the crate he was seated upon earlier. The side panel suddenly fell open, and several worn articles of clothing fell out, along with a few cloaks, capes, and other travel attire. “Now, since we’re officially refugees, we have to look the part; leave all of your obvious weapons and equipment here with Mani, who’ll be smuggling them into the city in a couple of days. In the meantime, take only what you can carry. And remember… look poor.”

 At that point the group began to pick through the articles of clothing. Neil started to make his way over, but was stopped by a quick wave from Mani.

 “A moment of your time, Mr. Vulto.”

 Neil paused for a moment, making his way back over to his friend. “What’s up?”

 After pausing for a moment to make sure that no one else was in listening range, Mani continued. “There’s some news from Malstron that you might be interested in,” he began, keeping his voice low. “Seems that Baptiste has gotten word that you’re on the move again.”

 There was a slight groan from Neil. “That’s lovely.”

 “It gets better. Word has it that once he finds out where you’re headed, he’ll be dispatching a couple of agents to say hi.”

 “Saber?”

 Mani nodded. “Rydian, Kain, and Lynn are the likely candidates, I hear. Hopefully we’ll be able to at least reason with those three.”

 Back over at the clothing, most of the group had already gathered what they wanted and were in the process of changing. Misfara paused for a moment before motioning in the other direction. “Er… I guess I’ll change over here,” she remarked, walking away from the group.

 A shirtless Drake laughed. “Your loss, Misfara.”

 Dietra, who was among the guys as they changed, nodded. “She too modest, no?” Her clothes were fairly nondescript and plain as-is, so she simply found a hooded cloak from the pile and slipped it on. A grin found its way onto her face as she looked at Bryan, pointing over her shoulder to Drake. “He big guy,” she observed.

 Bryan nodded as he adjusted his robes. “Yeah, he’s a bloody ox,” he responded with a laugh.

 “Don’t tell him that, his head’s big enough already,” Narek commented, smirking. Like Dietra, his attire was already on the simple side of things, which meant that there wasn’t much maintenance for him to attend to. The Islander slipped his boots off and tossed them in the discarded pile of clothes, which Mani was gathering up. “There,” Narek said, looking over to Dietra. “Now we both look Wilder,” he remarked, making a motion to Dietra’s own lack of boots.

 At that point Neil approached the group, also attired simply and lugging a sack over his shoulder. Mani hovered in the distance, sitting upon the crate of weapons and clothes. Misfara approached some time later, also clad for the journey. “So,” Neil began, surveying the group. “Are we ready?”

 There was a slow pause as he looked among the group, looks of confidence wherever his gaze fell. “Lead on, Boss,” Bryan responded with a flourish and a bow. “We’re in your hands now.”